Langer hoping for 'A' batting answer

Australia coach Justin Langer admits he does not know who the best six batsmen in Australia are, a situation he hopes will be rectified over the coming weeks with the 'A' tour of India.

The Australian men's cricket team is in a state of flux following the ball-tampering fiasco in March and the Test team faces a two-match series against Pakistan in the UAE in October with spots in the batting order wide open.

"It's unprecedented. We're going to wait until probably a week before the UAE tour to select the (Test) team," Langer told the Weekend Australian.

"The answer is straight up 'no'. Do we know the best six batsmen in Australia? The answer is 'no'."

The coach has plenty to ponder over the coming weeks, with the 'A' tour due to officially get underway on Sunday with a 50-over match against South Africa A in Vijayawada. The Australians have five one-day games, and a possible final, before the series switches to two first-class matches in Vizag that will be central to shaping the Test side.

"It's two-fold with India and Australia A. One, we want to see who performs under pressure and two, we want to start to get some continuity in our side where possible, but we also need to reward performance, not just talent," Langer said.

Compounding the coach's issues, not all the available contenders are on the 'A' tour, making that juggle between performance and talent a touch more tricky.

Batsmen Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell were excused from the 'A' tour given their history in Indian conditions.

Opener Joe Burns was also overlooked for the 'A' tour but was parachuted into the Test side in Johannesburg and is on the comeback from a back injury that derailed a county stint in the UK.

And Aaron Finch is on a hot-streak against the white ball that dates back nearly 12 months and will press his case via the County Championship with Surrey in conditions far removed from what the Aussies can expect in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

That puts the spotlight in India firmly on batsmen Matthew Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head and Kurtis Patterson, as well as allrounder Mitchell Marsh, who will captain the four-day side.

Langer said the scale of the task to rebuild the Australian men's cricket team, and the public's trust in it, had him "feeling quite overwhelmed" as it dawned on him "how big the job is and the level of scrutiny that was so different to what I'd experienced coaching Western Australia".

There are few bigger years in cricket than the one that lies in front of Langer now. The Pakistan Tests will be followed by a tough limited-overs series at home against South Africa, before Virat Kohli and the Indian cricket team arrive, with a two-Test series against Sri Lanka to follow.

Then ODI series away to India and Pakistan are scheduled in the ICC's Future Tours Programme – after which the bans on David Warner and Steve Smith will expire – before the World Cup defence in England, where in June an under-strength side was thrashed 5-0 in Langer's first series in charge.

And if that wasn't enough, Australia will then seek a first Ashes win on British soil since Steve Waugh's tourists in 2001 (a series that marked the start of the famous Langer-Hayden opening combination).

It's little wonder the coach admits to sleepless nights.

"It's the first time in my adult life I've woken up in the middle of the night," Langer says, with custom candour.

"I did it a few times in England. I've done it a few times since I've been home. It's bizarre but hopefully as I start getting my feet under the table and I start knowing who I trust around my new team of people at Cricket Australia, hopefully I start sleeping better.

"Certainly I'm gaining greater clarity in the foundations of what we are trying to achieve in the team for the next few years.

"I'm getting clarity about leadership. My huge focus is organic leadership and it can't just be about the title 'c' or 'vc', it's got to be about developing these young blokes.

"If I leave this role and there's probably six or seven guys who you could make captain tomorrow then I reckon I've done a pretty good job.

"Because if we do that then not only will we be playing good cricket and I reckon the Australian public will be proud of us again, we'll have earned respect and there will be plenty of heroes out there for Australian kids and that's the way it's always been in Australian cricket."

Australia A Tour of India

Australia A one-day squad: Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth

Schedule

One-day fixtures in Vijayawada

17 August v India A: Match abandoned

19 August v South Africa A

21 August v India B

23 August v India A

25 August v South Africa A

27 August v India B

29 August - Quad-Series Final

Australia A four-day squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Brendan Doggett, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Joel Paris, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitch Swepson, Chris Tremain

Four-day fixtures in Vizag

2-5 September v India A

8-11 September v India A